I have a bit of touch-up work to do around the neck tonight and the wigs. But the hard part is done! These are going to start hitting the mail on Saturday.
Thank you to everyone involved in this project, including all my buyers, Todd Blatt for teaching me about 3D printing and getting me started, and to Mountain View Studios for doing some amazing pulls on this run. And of course to Lloyd Albin for selling me the original movie head, and Ryan Bean for finding that fateful eBay auction back in 2015. I'm sure I'll have more Friday the 13th screen used/movie mold projects coming in the future, so keep your eyes on the blog here for more opportunities.
Hey buyers! The first five are either shipped or about to get shipped. The second five are on deck. I expect to have these last five done within a week. Get ready!
BY THE WAY: The wigs are cut and textured correctly but will take a lot of teasing and shaping after shipping compression to get them to look right. Pull the fibers apart with a brush and get them as separated as possible. Before you tape it to the head (use toupee tape), try to fold back the band so you can't see it in the hairline. It's a lot of work but they can look great once get them shaped up. I
used the exact same wig on my own copy: its called a JF1971.
Also, if you look closely at the back of the head you can see the impressions of four tape marks-- that's the original wig tape on the screen-used head. Stick some tape right on those four spots and press that wig right on.
Bought this from Bob over at Fiberglassmasks.com a few days ago. This is the only production-made hood from Freddy vs. Jason I've seen outside of Mario's collection. It's an unpainted flawed blank made from foam latex lined with cheesecloth, presumably for the actor's comfort. It's thin and rips as easily as tissue paper, so its going to need some serious preservation work after my Pam project is done.
Interesting thing about this sculpt is there's practically no texture on it. The neck is very lined and there are some pock marks about the face and head (probably done with a ballpoint pen), but its the least-textured movie mold piece I've seen up close.
One I have it stabilized and properly mounted, I may see if there is interest in doing a run of copies. It is probably too fragile to cast directly, and may be too large for a high-def 3D print, but once I get to that stage, I'll see what options I have.
Hello! Finally have time to sit down with these things. I have the first five mounted, and painting has commenced. I'm using my original urethane prototype (left) as the paint master so I get everything perfectly consistent.
This was a really cool Kirk blank to work on: The "Rare" (one of the many derivatives of the Kirkus '75 Kirk) by Nikolas Art Gallery in Greece. Just finished him today, so he's off to be haired by another artist.
I'm taking Myers commissions and currently have a super quick turn-around time: I only had this one for 11 days. I don't hair yet but I can find someone who does if you don't have a hair guy. Thanks for looking!
This came to me as a blank with the eyes already (badly) cut out. The owner had made an attempt at repairs with latex, which I then built on and dremeled into shape. Even up close you can't tell where the fixes were done. I'm glad I know this is possible now, because I can offer eye cut fixes as part of a paint up/conversion.
This is a really rare piece. It's a direct casting from the original master bust that produced the "New Blood" by Silver Shampain Novelties back in 2009. Jon Lawrence only did a few copies for friends, so I feel very lucky to have such a rare piece. Painted by me, of course!
SSN produced this mask from the original movie mold back in 2009 during a partnership with John Carl Buechler, director and FX chief on Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood.
Buechler supplied a casting of the original facial appliances, which were applied to a life cast of Kane Hodder, then cast again with a cranium and neck that were sculpted by Brad Hardin, if I'm not mistaken.
Only a few were made, and SSN has long since closed its doors.
The major difference between this pull straight off the master and the original SSN New Blood productions is one of size: The original run were expanded so they could be worn by even the largest of heads. This produced some distortion, as you can see here (SSN New Blood on the left):
Here's the crisply-detailed master, which Jon still owns.
And the master (center) with the first two pulls.
Yessir, there's nothing quite like a movie mold piece.
Some of these pieces are works in progress, but here's my collection as it stands now. The only thing not pictured is my T-800 arm. As you can see, I focus on Jason stuff, and I try to get the best representation of each design, movie mold if possible. So much done, but so much left to acquire.
The items are as follows:
Bloody Ending II blank (2017)
Pam 3D Prototype (2017)
SSN New Blood (2009)
FFS Part 7 (2017)
DIY Kirk-H1 Conversion (2017)
Bronzed Production-Made Promo Mask, Friday the 13th Part 7 (1988)
Hideous Looking Man (2010)
Hangman II (2010)
His Unlucky Day (2010)
ToTS H40 Rehaul (2018)
HSS Coffin Dummy (2011)
Aladdin Sane: Part 6 Jason (2011)
Screen-Used Camp Crystal Lake Sign, Friday the 13th Part 2 (1980)
Jason X Movie Mold Face (2002)
SSN New Blood Master Copy Raw Casting (2018, very limited)
Hockey Masks (All paint by me): Remake on a JDF, VS on a NECA, Part 8 on a BDS, Part 6 on a FGM, FGM Plante. On the HLM is a refurbed Crash part 3, which is going to get screen-accurate varnish shortly.
In the back is a souvenir photo from my tour of Camp NoBeBoSco in a frame made from the old window frames of Van Deusen lodge, where much of the original film takes place (including Mrs. Voorhees' famous monologue).
Everything except the HLM, the HUD, the Aladdin Sane, the Hangman and the Crash part 3 mask are movie mold or from production.
Everything was (or will be) painted by me except the New Blood, the Coffin Dummy and the HUD.
See this yet? If not why aren't you watching it now instead of reading this bullshit? See it now? GOOD. Are you FUCKING EXCITED LIKE I AM EXCITED???
Haha. Seriously, this project is impressive. After more than two decades of squabbling between Hollywood studios and screenwriters over a seemingly endless variety of scripts (Jason in space? Really?) fans are getting bored with delays and excuses year after year as the Friday the 13th franchise drops to an extremely low priority for major studios.
So, perhaps rightfully so, the real ideas are coming not from Hollywood screenwriters, but the fans themselves. Last year we were blessed with the one-two punch of Friday the 13th: The Game and the outstanding fan film Never Hike Alone. But the brutal, grindhouse-style gore of "Voorhees" has the potential to raise the bar for fan-made films. Besides being the first feature-length Jason film, it is one of the most well funded, at around $18,000.
The film revolves around a gang of thieves who, after committing a heist, kidnap a couple of young girls and retreat to their hideout in... you guessed it... the long-abandoned Camp Crystal Lake. You can imagine the fun that will ensue.
The magic formula struck on here by writers Cody Faulk and Chris Plaushin is something Hollywood seems to have missed: you don't need to do repeat the same pattern of Jason killing horny teens, or break so far away from the pattern that he's in FUCKING SPACE. You can insert him into legitimately interesting plots and complex character dynamics common in other genres, like crime drama.
So if Friday the 13th Part 4 feels something like "Jason vs. the Breakfast Club", Voorhees is more like "Jason vs. Reservoir Dogs." You have a real plot with believable, dynamic characters that function independently of horror tropes. Then you insert Jason, a force of nature that fucks everything up, forcing them all to improvise, testing their relationships, their character, and their ability to survive a situation they can't fully comprehend.
Why this hasn't been done before mystifies me. But I'm glad Cody Faulk is doing it now. If Voorhees ends up being as good as I think it will be, this film will likely put the 2009 remake to shame in all but the most technical respects. It may even top most of the Paramount films. And it could lead to a revolution in fan films inserting Jason into meatier plots: Jason vs. doomsday survivalists? Jason vs. satanic cult? If you can make it in the woods, you can insert Jason (and why wouldn't you?). The possibilities are endless.
It's worth a moment to comment here on the endurance this character has had over the last thirty-eight years. He's literally a man who just cuts people to ribbons and never says a word. And yet he's beloved around the world as a sort of vigilante, a manifestation of the dark side in all of us that would love to just take a machete to all the injustice in life. That Jason has the freedom to do that makes him the perfect foil for all kinds of villains in a lot of different situations way beyond camp counselors and vacationers.
I've said for years that Hollywood ruined Friday the 13th. Someone has long needed the courage to take Jason Voorhees back to his indie roots and make a real film that freshens up the genre and tells his story a new way, while remaining respectful to his mythology. Never Hike Alone certainly nailed that. But Voorhees just feels so much bigger. If the finished film kicks half as much ass as this trailer, its going to be talked about for years to come.
